Catching Virii
by Rainchaser
Summary: A discovery on Atlantis leads to trouble for the expedition... Team fic, Sheppardwhumping.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: I'm breaking a long-held rule of mine here, namely to never post something that isn't finished. I'm hoping that I can get myself moving on it again, though, since I know where I want to go with it, I just can't find themotivation to actually get there.

Disclaimer: Not mine, of course.

Spoilers: None to specific episodes that I can think of. Set sometime in season 1.

* * *

_The computer systems lay dormant, waiting patiently – if a machine could be said to be patient – for someone to come and activate their programming. Isolated by shielding and physical space, they had no way of telling if they had been truly abandoned – or whether someone had returned._

_The invading programs had long since sifted through all the information available to them. Defeated by the shields, they had returned to the micro-engineered devices that had carried them safely to their current location. The nanotechnology had fulfilled all its targeted objectives bar one; to return home with the information so painstakingly gathered. The nanites waited, needing only a means of escape from their isolation; years drifted by, unheeded, and still they waited._


	2. 1: Exploring

"I really don't see why we have to do this, Major," McKay's sharp tone echoed down the corridor, only briefly muffled as he peered into yet another doorway. Dismissing the room beyond as uninteresting, he turned to glare at Sheppard, who was emerging from a room further along the passage.

The major paused and glanced back at McKay, one eyebrow lifted sardonically. A damaged lighting panel overhead flickered repeatedly, causing weird shadows to dance across his face. "C'mon, McKay! Who wouldn't want to spend an afternoon exploring Atlantis? Besides, it's not like either of us had anything better to do, is it?"

"Speak for yourself! I, for one, had some _extremely_ important simulations to run, and I don't appreciate being dragged away for this… this… _make-work._ Any of you military types could do this, and it _certainly_ isn't as important as making sure my assistants don't mess up the calculations I left for them. I mean, really – "

"McKay."

"– Atlantis is still going to be there tomorrow, but if someone messed up their mathematics even slightly, my simulation won't be. I'm going to have to spend at _least_ a day checking it all when we get back and –"

"_McKay."_

"_What?"_

"Interesting as your staffing problems may be, this isn't getting us any further here. So why don't you just take a look in here, tell me whether there's anything potentially important lying around that us 'military types' - as you so charmingly put it – can't be trusted to recognise, and we can be on our merry way. If we hurry, we might even finish in time for you to drop by your lab before dinner." Sheppard grinned and waved invitingly at the door.

"Okay, okay, I get the point already." McKay pushed past Sheppard, pausing in the doorway to look back at him. "Do me a favour and move out from under that light, will you? It makes you look like an extra from a cheap horror movie. It's upsetting my digestion."

Sheppard rolled his eyes, but obligingly stepped sideways to prop himself against a wall in a better lit section of corridor. "Well? Any ground-shaking, life-shattering discoveries awaiting your eager little hands?"

"Major, please." McKay scowled. "I've barely even had a chance to look inside. Not that I _need_ to have much of a look around. It's just like every other room we've been in today – echoing, empty, and totally uninteresting other than to wonder where all the dust is. About the only thing that could make it even vaguely worth my time is if there was a hidden doorway somewhere… actually, that's a thought. Perhaps I should check the walls…" He was already reaching into a pocket as he turned away from the conversation, looking at the room with a new glint in his eye.

"I hate to tell you this, but you're not going to find any. I've already checked it out."

McKay's shoulders slumped slightly. "That's right, take all the fun out of it, why don't you? The next room we reach, I'm going in first. Maybe that way I can at least have the fun of pretending I'm going to be able to find something, instead of knowing that there's nothing there, because you'd have mentioned it if there was…"

"No dice, McKay. That's not the way it works. I go first to check for any nasty surprises, remember? I wouldn't want to upset your delicate stomach and have to listen to you griping at me all day – although, now I think about it, that wouldn't be much different to a normal day, and no, that doesn't mean I've changed my mind."

"Fine, be that way." McKay rolled his eyes. "Since you so eloquently pointed out earlier that minutes spent chatting here are minutes that I could be making use of later to much greater benefit, perhaps you'd be kind enough to lead the way to our next enthralling stop on this not-so-guided tour?"

"Funny, McKay. Really funny."

* * *

"Now this is more like it!"

Sheppard slanted a glance towards his companion. "Why do you say that?"

McKay stepped right up to the door that formed the end of the corridor. Double doors, as opposed to the single door of every other room they had explored so far that day. In spite of that, it was a surprisingly unassuming doorway. Recessed back slightly into the wall, with no decoration at all, it was almost as if it was meant to be overlooked.

Frowning with concentration, the scientist ran his hands over the surface, stretching up and across in an attempt not to miss any areas. "It should be obvious, Major. The placement, the different design… the fact that even though both of us have the gene, the door is remaining very much _closed_. Are those good enough reasons for you?"

"Huh."

"Huh? _Huh?_ Is that all you've got to say? I must admit, I'm not entirely surprised your powers of speech seem to have deserted you – I mean, an entire afternoon spent conversing with a superior intelligence such as myself has got to be taxing what little brain you have left after the military finished your training, which I suppose explains why your vocabulary has been deteriorating over the past few hours… what are you doing?"

He was favoured with a smug grin as Sheppard stepped back from the wall to the left of the doors. A faint hissing sound drew his attention back to the entrance, where the doors were folding smoothly back into the walls. Sheppard's grin grew larger. "I was opening the doors, of course."

"Well, yes, I can see that…" McKay floundered, trailing off into silence before bursting out, "_warn_ me next time, will you? You don't know what might have happened..."

"'Might' being the operative word there, McKay, and don't try to pretend that you weren't trying to do exactly the same thing with that little touchy-feely act you had going on with the door there."

"_Touchy-feely?_" McKay spluttered. "I really think you've been spending too much time with Lieutenant Ford, Major. His inability to accurately describe things is obviously rubbing off on you."

Sheppard snorted as he stepped into the newly revealed passageway, footsteps echoing hollowly. "I wouldn't let Ford hear you say that. You might hurt his feeli… McKay, get your backside in here. _Now_."

"What?" Suddenly aware of a tight knot in his gut, McKay chased after the major. The new corridor was small and oddly claustrophobic – and also very short. No more than fifteen paces after he started running, McKay slid to a halt next to the other man, puffing as he stared around in awe. The room was five sided, large – surprisingly so – and was full of what appeared to be tables or workbenches of some sort. The distribution of the tables was oddly uneven, with them being grouped into five discrete areas, each one aligned with a wall of the room. It gave the room the appearance of five triangular segments meeting in the middle, where there was a freestanding column that reached all the way up to the ceiling. It was completely unadorned, giving no clue to whether it was ornament, architecture or vital technology.

"Is this more what you had in mind?"

Well aware that the major was smirking at him, McKay took a couple of deep breaths and tried to maintain his dignity as he wiped sweat off his hands onto his jacket. "You know perfectly well this is _exactly_ what I'm interested in. Next time, though, I'd appreciate it if you would refrain from trying to scare me into a heart attack. It might be about as sophisticated a form of entertainment as your tiny little brain can manage, but I really don't think Elizabeth would be very happy with you if you were to cause my demise. Not to mention that none of my plans for my immediate future involve me being dead."

"Shame. Maybe then I'd be able to get a little peace and quiet occasionally."

"Oh, ha ha. Do me a favour and go investigate the other side of the room. That would be the side _furthest away_ from where I'm going to be, which is just over here looking at this… data console. Now that's odd…" McKay trailed off into silence as he reached out and touched the interface, bringing the systems to life.

"What's odd?"

Stifling a yelp, McKay turned to glare at Sheppard, who was standing maybe a foot behind him and leaning to the side to look past him at the console. "I thought I told you to go investigate the _other_ side of the room? As in,_ not_ the part of the room I'm in?"

He was rewarded with a lazy smile. "When was the last time I paid any attention to what you told me to do? And no, any situation where we're trapped off world and about to die doesn't count. So, what's so interesting about this console?" Sheppard reached out to touch it.

"Don't touch that!" McKay slapped the major's hand away, ignoring the dark look he was gifted with in return. "If you must know, it looks like this is an interface with a data bank, yet it isn't quite like the ones we've come across so far. In fact…" He frowned, tapping confidently at the controls, only to desist after a few moments. If anything, he looked more intrigued than before.

"McKay?"

"What? I'm thinking here!"

"So that's what that pained expression means. Funny, I'd always thought it meant you were suffering from indigestion. You were saying something about this console being different?"

"If you've quite finished gibing at me? Yes? Good… As I was saying, it looks like this panel can't access the main Atlantis data banks, and the only reason I can think of is that this system was set up to be completely independent of the rest of the city. It's…"

"Are you sure it's not just malfunctioning?"

"_Quite_ sure, thank you Major. As I would have told you if you'd managed to keep your mouth shut for just _one_ second longer, it is still perfectly capable of accessing it's own data bank, it just won't connect to the main ones. Now, I can't say for certain what this room was set up for until I've had a chance to go through the files and translate them properly, but I think it's safe to say that if they went to all the trouble of isolating the computer systems, then there must be something unusual about this room. Now will you _kindly_ go away and leave me alone?"

"Temper, temper," Sheppard said lightly, grinning. "But seeing as you asked me so nicely, I'll just go and take a look at the other side of the room. I'll let you know when it's time to leave. Wouldn't want you missing dinner, after all."

McKay rolled his eyes. "_Thank_ you."

* * *

_AN: All the snark ever... the boys got away from me just a little in this chapter grins_


End file.
